An interpreter, whom the BBC has agreed not to name because of the sensitive nature of her job, claims Mr Bush touched her inappropriately in 2004. The alleged incident took place at a meeting between the former president and the Spanish defence minister Jose Bono Martinez. The interpreter has not previously spoken publicly about the incident.

“It was 2004,” she told the BBC. “Spanish troops had been withdrawn suddenly from Iraq and I was working as an interpreter in Spain.” Jose Zapatero’s Socialist Party unexpectedly won the general election in March of that year.

The incumbent US president, George W Bush, was nearing the end of his first term in office. His relationship with Mr Zapatero was markedly frostier than the warm rapport he had enjoyed with the Spanish prime minister’s conservative predecessor.

George HW Bush, the president’s father, was hunting in Spain so, with an interpreter, Mr Martinez was sent to meet him armed with a gift - a pair of hunting rifles. The interpreter would not disclose the contents of the meeting, citing confidentiality concerns.

But media reports suggest Mr Martinez was hoping to enlist Mr Bush’s help in establishing greater communication between the US president and the Spanish prime minister.

It was at the photo call after the meeting had finished when the alleged incident occurred.

“When the time came to take the photos, Mr Bush insisted on me being in the photo,” the interpreter said.

Her story is similar to other allegations made against Mr Bush. Another woman, Roslyn Corrigan, told the publication Time that Mr Bush touched her inappropriately in 2003, when she was 16. On Thursday, CNN reported allegations from a 55-year-old woman who said Mr Bush touched her inappropriately in April 1992.